


Sick Week

by lunarpaddle



Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics)
Genre: Batfam Week 2020, F/F, Sickfic, batgirl!steph, black bat!cass, gay as shit, if i post the first chapter on the last day it still counts right, no editing we die like robins, set a little bit post steph becoming batgirl
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:33:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23161000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunarpaddle/pseuds/lunarpaddle
Summary: When Steph gets a call from Cass, who's been distant ever since Steph sort-of accidentally faked her own death, asking for Steph to look after her whilst she's ill, Steph is shocked - but she'll be damned if she passes up on a chance to at least have a friendship again with the girl she used to be (and definitely still isn't) in love with.
Relationships: Cassandra Cain & Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown & Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown/Cassandra Cain
Comments: 3
Kudos: 62





	1. Chapter 1

It was Steph’s night off of patrolling, and she was lounging happily in front of the TV working her way through the early seasons of Heroic Anatomy, a trashy medical drama that had popped up in response to the reveal of superpowers to the world in recent years. She’d never thought much of it, till Harper forced her to watch the latest episode, which had featured the “Mythical Bat Man” as a man with a deformed bat face and claws stuck in the hospital due to a mysterious ailment - needless to say, it was hilarious, and she was hooked.

On screen now, Nurse Annabelle (who was secretly a vigilante at night, and Steph’s Favourite) was complaining to her coworker about her feelings for Dr. Clara (who was secretly an alien from Neptune, and definitely was also head over heels for Nurse Annabelle if they’d just TALK about their FEELINGS, honestly) - Steph, meanwhile, was contentedly munching away at her evening snacks till her phone decided to interrupt, quite rudely, in her opinion.

A brief look at the phone revealed it was Cass calling, however, so...maybe it could have a pass.

“Hey Cassie,” she said, swallowing down the last of her crisps, “what’s up, aren’t you supposed to be out patrolling?” The line was silent for a second, which was not altogether unusual for Cass - it was more unusual for her to call, really. When her voice did come out of the speaker though, it was definitely unusually quiet, and unusually shaky.

“I’m… not well.” Well, shit. Since when did the Black Bat herself get ill? 

“Fuck, what’s wrong? Did you need anything?” Silence for a few seconds, again.

“I, um. I have a fever. I was going to…” Cass’s voice trailed off, and now Steph was really concerned - not that she thought a fever could kill Cass when even her mother failed, but this just - it just wasn’t like her. 

“Do you want me to come look after you?” A vaguely affirmative sound came across the line, and Steph would be damned if she wasn’t gonna take that as a yes. “Whose place are you staying at?”

Silence, again. Then- 

“I will send you the address.” And the line went dead.

Great.

\---

The address wasn’t far from hers, and she couldn’t help but mull on the weirdness of the entire situation on the way over. Why her? Sure, they were friends, they were a good team, and she - well, her feelings for Cass were a whole complicated mess. But Cass had never really seemed interested in them getting close again after she got back from Africa. She didn’t blame her, really - she hadn’t exactly intended to fake her own death, but she hadn’t exactly made an effort to avoid it afterwards either.

Cass had handed her Batgirl, and ran off to Hong Kong, and even though she was back now they only really talked on patrol - and Cass was close with Tim, she knew, and Damian, though it wasn’t hard to imagine why neither of them would be good options for this (Spleen and Child, respectively). 

A part of her wanted to be bitter, that she was probably only being asked to be there for Cass as a last resort, but - but fuck, she wanted to be close with Cass again, she missed her best friend, and bitterness probably wouldn’t do shit to help that happen. She should focus on more important things.

Like who on earth owned the place she’d just arrived at.

\---

“This - I... “ Cass looked awful even without the anxious frown on her face, staring down at her lap, voice raspy. “This is my place.”

Cass had her own place? Last time Steph had checked, Cass spent most of her nights bunking in whoevers place she’d been on patrol with, or Wayne Manor failing that. 

“I… not many… ugh!” Cass exclaimed, throwing her hands up in a way that was all too familiar to Steph, all these years later. She couldn’t help but smile a bit to herself.

-You know you can sign with me, if that’s easier?- Cass’s eyes widened for a second, before a small smile slid onto her face, too.

-Thankyou. I forget, sometimes - I don’t usually need it these days, but this flu has my head all cloudy.- Cass signed back, motions still smooth despite her rustiness. -Nobody really knows about this place. It’s less a home, more a home base. I keep my things here, come here if- she faltered for a second - -if I need a breather, or in this case, if I’m ill.-

That made sense, Steph supposed. -And what kind of things does the great Black Bat keep at her home base?- she replied, getting up to look around. She could hardly pass up the opportunity to tease, after all.

“Oh - Steph - It’s nothing important -” Cass’s voice rasped, and god, was it weird that she found Cass’s voice even hotter like that? Probably. 

“Oh come on, you’ve gotta have some really cool souvenirs around - “

Oh.

Spread out on the shelf in front of her were a variety of weird looking objects, a few of which she didn’t recognise, but most of which -

“I got you this the first Christmas I knew you,” she says, picking up a Gotham City snow globe, “For My New Bestie x” painted sloppily on the back. “And - and these are those dumb sunglasses I got you when we went to the mall because - you said you’d never - you kept all this?” She was trying her best not to let her voice crack, but like. Damn.

Cass was staring back down at her lap again. -Of course I did.- she signed, before getting up and traipsing into what was presumably her bedroom. She stood there for a second, looking down at the collection of knick knacks, and then around the room - she could, looking closely, spot at least a couple of other things she’d given Cass, back before everything. 

She didn’t know how to feel, entirely - even more so when she entered the bedroom to find Cass curled up beneath a blanket that Steph distinctly remembers making for her by hand (which, side note, how had she not realised how gay she was for Cass back then? Like, she hand knitted her a present, god damn).

“I, um. You - You’re ill, what can I do to help?” The subject definitely needed changing, or her brain was going to melt from the feelings.

Cass groaned. “Not too bad now, but it will get worse, I can tell. Just need you to - stay? Maybe bring food?” Well, she could definitely do that. And if she got to get a bit closer to Cass again, to work out what the fuck was going on here, with them? That wouldn’t be so bad, either.

“Whatever you need, Cass,” she said, settling down on the bed next to her, hand on her shoulder. “I’ve got you.”


	2. Chapter 2

Steph squirmed uncomfortably on the sofa, staring at the ceiling and taking some time to appreciate the irony of Cass’s sofa being so uncomfortable when she seemed to take so much delight on sleeping on other peoples’ - she supposed this one didn’t get much use though.

Hell, had anyone else ever stayed here? Did anyone else even know about it? That thought inspired a mix of concern and excitement she didn’t care to think about at all, so she set herself to the task of preparing breakfast - Cass might be ill, but knowing her she’d still be up bright and early. 

Provided that hadn’t changed in the past, what, 2 years? God, she wasn’t doing a great job at not moping today.

She started setting up to fry some eggs up regardless, till a small crash came from the living room - was Cass up and about already? Shit, had she hurt herself? Steph turned the corner into the room, only to find - 

“Damian?” 

“STEPH?”

\---  
A brief, typically insult-packed conversation had revealed that Damian was one of the very few other people that knew about this place, and that Cass (of course) had neglected to tell anyone else she was ill - Bruce had (of course) told the kid not to worry about it, and Damian had (of...course?) been concerned regardless and come to check on her - apparently they were close now.

Which, Steph didn’t have a problem with that! She didn’t see the kid as much as she had back when Dick was wearing the cowl and she’d done a fair bit of looking after him after the initial animosity wore off, and despite their constant back and forth insults she cared about the kid a lot, and she was glad he was getting close with one of his siblings that wasn’t also kinda weirdly his dad, but - 

It was just another reminder that she really didn’t know very much about Cass anymore. That Cass, even, actively didn’t want her to know anything about her - it was more than a little difficult to believe little Dami had completely failed to mention this developing sibling relationship by accident.

She really sucked at not moping this morning, huh.

Damian had gone in to wake Cass up and check on her whilst she finished breakfast, and as she was laying out plates (at least the kid had arrived before she started cooking), they both emerged from the bedroom, Damian giving Cass an evil smirk she recognised all too well, and Cass glaring red-cheeked away from him - only to make direct eye contact with her.

The air was still for an agonising second, Cass’s eyes softening, before Damian burst out into cackling before taking a seat at the table and beginning to devour his eggs.

-What was that about?- she signed to Cass, grinning - other feelings aside, it really was good to see two people she loved so much getting along.

-Oh, he was just doing his best to embarass me, as usual.- Cass replied, a soft smile gracing her face. -You know what he’s like.- She did.

The two of them took their places at the table, and Steph began to eat before noticing that Cass was prodding at her food uncomfortably. Shit - did she not like eggs anymore? No, she’d definitely seen Cass eating eggs at the manor once or twice, was it… the bread? Or -

“Is the food alright?” she asked, cutting off her own train of thought.

“Oh! Yes, just, feeling nauseous.” Right. That made sense.

“I could go grab some medicine from the shop if you want? I’m here to look after you, after all.” This, for some reason, drew another smirk from Damian.

“It’s alright, I’ll manage,” Cass replied, stilted.

“If you say so,” she says, doubtfully. “So, Dami, how’s things out on the streets? Gotham managing without its two best bats?” She winks over at Cass as she speaks.

Damian just rolls his eyes. 

“We are perfectly fine without the both of you, shockingly,” he drawls. “Although I think Barbara is feeling the pain of losing two of her best direct agents in the city – I saw the Black Canary running around near the docks last night.”

“Good,” Cass says, grimacing after finally managing to swallow down a bite of food. “Perhaps if she sees Dinah more, she will… get her head out of her ass.”

Steph bursts out laughing. God, she was right, though – there was far too much sexual tension whenever either of her fellow Birds were in town, if something didn’t happen soon she might just have to take it into her own hands.

“You’re one to talk,” Dami says, giving Cass that same fucking smirk, and Cass’s eyes go hard as, in a flash, she stabs a cutlery knife into the table directly between two of Damian’s fingers.

“Shut. Up.” Cass says. Damian seems unphased.

Steph was not normal by any definition, but sometimes she really wondered about the Wayne family.

\---

Damian had eventually made his way home, satisfied that Cass was well, and the two of them had ended up on the sofa watching TV – meaning, Steph was watching TV, and Cass was curled up half-asleep. Apparently Cass did just have magical, sofa-sleeping abilities on even the most uncomfortable of couches.

“I feel like I don’t even know who you are anymore, Annabelle!” Dr. Clara was yelling, having just discovered her friend’s secret night-time activities.

“Oh, says the secret alien,” Nurse Annabelle scoffs.  
“That’s just my form!” Clara says. “I never hid an entire part of who I am from you!”

Personally knowing at least one alien pretty well, that didn’t seem entirely accurate to Steph – being from another planet was a pretty big part of who Kara was.

“I – I was just scared, Clara.” Annabelle says. “Showing people this stuff is – it’s scary!”

The whole thing made Steph glad she wasn’t really close with anyone outside the profession – secret identities could get really, really messy.

The show ended, and Steph was about to get up and do the washing up when Cass made a soft, whining noise and pushed herself up a little.

“What’s up?” Steph asked, taking in the way Cass’s hair fell, messy from sleep, across her face.

-Think I should go to bed- Cass signs before sneezing dramatically.

-Want a hand?- Steph signs back. Cass nods, and Steph loops an arm around her, hauling her up from the sofa.

“You’re…stronger, now.” Cass says as they make their way to her bedroom, giving Steph an odd look.

“Oh, yeah, I mean,” Steph blushes, “Lots of training, y’know. Gotta live up to the name, right?”

Cass just smiles, warmly, as they make it to her bed and sit down.

-You always did- she says, before curling up with her head on Steph’s lap and promptly passing right back out.

Fuck.


End file.
